Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1887-01-08
THE TOBACCO TAX.
To the Chronicle.

1
Taxation is now emptying the to
bacco growers pocket t-book. The pres.
and politicians all agree that some mod
ification is imperiously demanded
This patriotic band however, obstinate
ly disagree as to the mode of modifying
and so no relief comes to the tobacco
grower. In the meantime the surplus
in the United States treasury increas
fingly accumuiates, thereby rendering
the amount of circulating currency
less and less among the people, largely
to their detriment and tending to in.
cubate measures endangering our form
OF government.
Morrison and others have earnestly
soughta horizontal reduction on i'm
ports, while Randall and others. for
Just as patriotic purposes have endeay.
ored to achieve the much needed re-
lief by the repeal of the Internal tax.
Now, however, the Morrison method
has been defeated, and as the next
Congress will be less Democratic than
the present, his plan may be regarded
as definitely set aside.
The Randall plan, as to tobacco, is in
conformity with the inclination of the
masses, because their mate sense of
justice forbids their sanctioning the
ubiquitous exaction placed by the ex-
else law on the product of the laborer,
tolllng with tired back in the tobacco
patch. His plan is in harmony with
the genius of our government as de-
monstrated by the opposition which the
excise law of 1871 encountered, and as
that law was abrogatod under the first
Democratic president alter the consti-
tuition was adopted would it not be
matter of Democratic graduation for
the pressnt iniquitous internal revenue
tax on tobacco to be repealed under
the first Democratic president after the
late unpleasantness.
Tobacco is necessary agricultural
product to large portions of North
Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Ken
tucky and other States, just as much so
as cotton is in South Carolina, Georgia,
Texas, and as much so as wheat is in
Illinois, Minnesota and California.
Just as the people can exc out existence
without tobacco in the tobacco districts
named-so could the people do so, in
the cotton and wheat States without
growing cotton and wheat. But if the
people in the cotton States move along
abreast with the times they must grow
cotton and so also with the people OF
the wheat and tobacco regions if they
keep step with progressive advance
ment, they must grow the commodi-
ties to which their respective soils and |
climates are especially adapted.
A tax on any generally used article
diminishes the consumption OF the
article taxed. Any tax that diminishes
consumption of an article also lessons
the price of the article in the market.
About these propositions there can be
no diversity of opinion. Our commod
ity is the only product of hard labor
that is taxed.
Tobacco is taxed-though it is the
product of hard toil-though it is an
Indispensable field crop to the white
ind black Of populous districts of sew
,ral States, though it costs six cents
pound to produce it, where the labor
,rs receives only seventy-fve cents
lay and boards himself. Still it is
axed and taxed heavily, and so i'm
,overishingly taxed that our home
consumption is so diminished as presses
market values below cost of produc- {
ion. &
Our own country is cur chief Gus !
omer for our tobacco. The Foreign |
customer is merely auxiliary to our
Welfare. n